“I’ll take good care of him. I’ve read over his diet and habits, so I’ve got everything already set up in your room in our designated service dog quarters. He’ll be there waiting for you. I’ll take him for a walk now and in a few hours.”
“Thanks.”
She releases me, then holds the hand with my scent on it close to Radar. He sniffs her and seems to accept her. I transferhis leash to her, give his head a comforting scratch between his ears, and let them walk off. Radar glances back at me, like he’s afraid I’m abandoning him or he’s going into another veterinarian’s office.
But it’s the emptiness that eats at me the most. I hope she does what she says she will.
If she hurts him…
Ah, who am I kidding? I never do anything when others wrong me.I’ve spent my entire life trying to avoid the people that will hurt me. And it always happens anyway.
A nurse walks up to me in blue ABR scrubs. “Tessi? We are ready to get you on a bed.”
Normally, ABR runs the final tests on the shuttle. But at the risk of Radar getting out of control, I needed to stay conscious until we were on the lunar base, where a handler could take him.
I enter the round room and sit on the bed she motions to. She helps me lie back and places a device on my forehead, then tugs my collar aside and presses an injector to my neck. It clicks and hisses.
Sleep grips me. “This is normal?”
“Quick nap before the race, to ensure you’re fresh and ready to run.”
“Oh, okay.” I think I say it, but I’m not sure as shadows of sleep swallow my thoughts.
Through the murky atmosphere of rest, I hear a distant explosion. It makes me twitch. Another goes off.
Radar runs by me, but he’s not grown. He’s just a puppy again, scared and malnourished. He hides in a drain pipe that’s got a trickle of water running through it. All around me, the world takes more shape. Silhouettes of trees rise, forming a familiar forest.
I lie on the ground not far from the creek. When another explosion goes off, close enough that I can see the bright fireball,feel the heat, and hear the flames as they billow into the sky. I crawl to the pipe and gather Radar into my arms. Then I get up and run, deeper into the forest, away from the battle.
Bushes scrape at my legs and arms. I shield Radar and sprint as fast as I can, but it seems like the blasts never get further away. I glance back to get an idea of how close they are, when I collide with something soft and warm.
I stumble to the ground, curl up around Radar, and pray I don’t squish him. When I get my bearing, I notice the deep growl of a different kind of terror.
The forest suddenly seems darker, like the shadows are alive. Bright, iridescent silver-blue eyes stalk us from the void between boughs.
I scramble away from him, clutching Radar, who whimpers in my arms.
A faint, rapid beeping enters my ears.
“No, no. Let her sleep. We’re almost there. Proceed.”
I glance up at the sky like it holds the answer to why another woman’s voice is in my dream.
The shadows move, and a wolf limps into a patch of sunlight through the trees, something protruding from its chest. I slowly get up and study his posture. I don’t think he’s here to attack us.
Walking toward him takes every ounce of courage I have. But I can’t believe he’d chase me to attack me. I think he was hunting me because he needs my help.
An arrow protrudes from his shoulder. He sniffs in my direction, and I seize up. I close my eyes and pray he doesn’t hurt us. When his warm breath moves away, I look down.
He sits. Waits.
Getting up, I slowly reach out, cautiously wrap my hand around the arrow’s shaft, and prepare myself to run. Then, with a sharp motion, I rip the arrow out, turn, and sprint through the trees, clutching Radar close.
Light filters through the forest. It breaks up my dream, and I wake to the ABR complex again.
“Blue bands,” a woman in a white coat says.
“Are you sure?” my nurse asks. “She served on the ABR security detail. Seems like she should be black. Myndrous were hunting her.”
